Why intellectual property can be a barrier to TT

Transcription

1 Why intellectual property can be a barrier to TT Intellectual property grant exclusive rights ( legal monopoly) Patents 20 years minimum Copyright 50 years minimum Trade secrets indefinite

2 North-South asymmetry in R&D OECD countries 78 % Asia (excl. Japan) 19 % (China=11,8 %, 53% of researchers in developing countries ) Latin America 2.4 % (Brazil: 1,3%) Near and Middle East 1.2 % Africa 0.7 % JACQUES GAILLARD, Measuring Research and Development in Developing Countries: Main Characteristics and Implications for the Frascati Manual, Science, Technology & Society 15:1 (2010)

3 R&D in developing countries Governments are the main suppliers of funding, largely concentrated in few institutions The business sector performs much less R&D than the public sector R&D is focused on basic and applied research Minor or incremental changes is the main type of innovation

4 Global R&D for ESTs 90% of technology development concentrated in USA, EU, Japan and China

5 Ownership of ESTs Companies from Japan, USA, Germany, Korea, France and the UK own around 80% of all patented innovations in: solar PV, geothermal, wind, and carbon capture

6 Patents and clean energy technologies in Africa The fact that only 1% of CET patent applications have also been filed in Africa prove that claims that patent rights provide a barrier to use of CETs, are very largely unfounded for Africa. UNEP-EPO p. 13

7 ESTs in Africa Low filing of foreign patents African patents: 0,24% of world patents on CC Mitigation Technologies, 0,26% on CC Adaptation Technologies No manufacturing capacity, no threat to technology owners Patents granted elsewhere (e.g. India, China) create barriers for access to low cost equipment and technologies in Africa

8 Transfer of technology Reluctance to transfer most effcient technologies High licensing fees Restrictive practices (grant-back, exports, tyingclauses)

9 Refusal to deal/restrictive terms & conditions o HFC-227ea fire protection chemical: Indian firms unable to get license o Firms from India, Brazil, China, Korea, Mexico unable to gain access to ozone-friendly technology on affordable terms o Malaysian firm (Solartif) accessed advanced solar PV technology on condition of buying solely from patent holder

10 Wind turbine technologies Chinese companies could only get access to second-tier, often untested technologies

11 Proliferation of patents

12 Ritonavir Over 800 patents filed to protect different aspects of the drug and its methods of use

13 400 patents (krill) Over 400 worldwide patents related to krill (pink gold)

14 Mobile technology patents Nokia: Google take over of Motorola Mobile:

15 Animal Hat Apparatus and Metbod Patent Number: 4,969,317 Date of Patent: Nov. 13, 1990 Inventor: April Ode, Lake Havasu City, AZ

16 British Patent of Sam Houghton

17 U.S. Patent 6,239,919 (IBM, 2001) Claim 1: A method of providing reservations for restroom use comprising receiving a reservation request from a user; and notifying the user when the restroom is available for his or her use.

18 Proliferation of ESTs patents 400,000 patent documents regarding solar photovoltaic, geothermal, wind, and carbon capture 215,000 patents with a main focus on renewable energy applications.

19 Trade secrets: a barrier for technology transfer in Africa the main factors impeding technology transfer are access to the real know-how from the source companies (including access to trade secrets), UNEP-EPO

20 ADMINISTRATION STRATEGY ON MITIGATING THE THEFT OF U.S. TRADE SECRETS- Executive Office of the President (2013) We will continue to act vigorously to combat the theft of U.S. trade secrets that could be used by foreign companies or foreign governments to gain an unfair economic edge.

21 Litigation: trade secrets AMSC v. Sinovel Wind Group Co., former customer and China s biggest wind turbine manufacturer Breach of contract, copyright infringement, and theft of trade secrets: about US $1.2 billion in damages,

22 Conclusions There is a need for the development, diffusion and transfer of climate technologies on a massive scale. UNFCCC Executive Secretary, First meeting of the Technology Executive Committee, UNFCCC, Bonn, 1st September, 2011

23 North-South asymmetry in R&D capacity and technology ownership IPRs, by its very nature, can be a barrier to technology transfer Absence of patent does not mean access to technology Obstacles generated by IPRs need to be addressed in climate change negotiations